[Stone Fortress, West side of the southern territory]

About 7 days have passed since the initial declaration of war  of the three territories of West, North, and East against the southern tribes. Upon receiving such a declaration of war in the middle of a huge meeting conference for the leaders of the south, the meeting was then ended early after a few discussions, before everyone rushed over to their own territory and prepare for war.

Since the meeting was ended prematurely, various information they held weren't able to be discussed during the meeting, thus in order to make up for their lack of information sharing, they all then decided to use messenger birds as their way to transport information from one place to another.

When the meeting in the center was ended early, Tetra then rushed over back to her territory which took about a day and a half without no rest in between. Once she arrived in her camp she then had everyone prepare for war, while directing the non-combatants to evacuate to the center discreetly away from the eyes of the enemies.

IN the light of all that every remaining camp also did the same thing in their own territory.

From her camp Tetra then quickly unlocked her family's private armory as she took out the piece of armor in women's design presumably the only heirloom that her deceased mother had left behind after her death.

 Striking set feature a leather halter bra that is laced in the back. It ornamented with Norse dragons and bronze rivets. The belly covering has a gator skin pattern background and an under bust corset belt with a Celtic design and metallic accents that is laced in the back. Furred shoulder pads which has enough defensive layers for protection.

The skirt is made from black fur and has chainmail accents with a unique lamellae diamond pattern in the front and oil tanned leather in the back. It is secured by a silver belt ornamented with Viking style dragons. The bracers have a snake skin imprint and a diamond cut pattern. They are secured via leather laces. Lastly her hair is braced into a bun ready anytime when whenever she needed a helmet.

All of her equipment is enchanted with frost elements which gave off a decent colo9r of blue and an aura of eternal frost. Alongside her armor, her weapons weren't an exception to such grand appearance.

On her left side waist she had an Ice flail neatly packed on her belt to avoid falling off, on her right side waist she had a sword similar to the design of a Germanic tribe sword, and on her back she had a twin axe stuck in a cross with a wooden steel shield layered above it. Aside from the ice flail which goes alongside her mother's heirloom and emits a frost aura, the other weapons from from her father's personal collection.

Taking all of this with her, she then led her army to the stone fortress where she will be designated to stop the approaching enemies. Thus which then brought us to the present date.

It took Tetra and her army to arrive at the stone fortress for about 2 days and a half. The moment they arrived they were welcomed by the other existing army's that is stationed in the area alongside them.

Technically since the three territories of the snow peak mountain range declared war on them in three different direction, the southerners had no choice but to disperse their whole force into three different groups that is assigned with the area to protect their ground. Since their forces were greatly divided, they then had no choice but to stay on the defensive to protect their land instead of pushing forward.

After all if they pushed forward with their army of incomplete force, the risk of being annihilated by the opposing force is nearly about 90 percent.

From the information handed to them the western territory had about an approximate of all 30 tribes working together in this invasion, from the northern tribes all 20 of them were standing against the south, and the eastern tribes are about 40 overall.

Since the army of the south is divided, then western side of its territory have about only 12 tribes cooperating for its defenses. However the other side also aren't lucky, the northern defense have about 20 tribes protecting it led by Boris the 1st tribe leader to even out the playing field, while the east have only about 15 tribes defending its borders.

All in all the match up is about 30 vs 12 in the west, 20 vs 20 in the north, and 15 vs 40 on the east. A great disadvantage for the people of the south.

Originally the western side should have about 15 tribes overall to defend the area, but since 3 tribes have been destroyed about a week and few days ago, the defending tribes were then reduced to mere 12.

For the western tribes the person who held accountability as its reigning leader for such defensive location is none other but the 36th tribe leader.

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Duncan

43 years old

Male

Leader of the 36th tribe

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Since Duncan is the de facto leader of this defensive formation, he naturally is able to communicate with other de facto leader from the other two sides. From there he would then relay the information he had to the other leaders in the area in order to share the thoughts of each leaders. In fact there is no flaw in Duncan's way of handling everyone, he was quite reliable aside from his sudden outburst from time to time.

What's more everyone look in admiration to Tetra all because of her parents lineage, they believe that since the parents are quite a respectable leader, their offspring should naturally be the same. Thus no discrimination based on gender happened in the area.

Thus days passed which then turned to week since the opposing army begun setting up their camp quite a far distance from the stone fortress. But since a hostile camp was made in such n observable area, the people in the fortress had no choice but to look over and be attentive to the hostile army's every movement.

Just like that in the current time, Tetra is currently looking down below the the walls of the fortress in order to observe the hostile army, but since the ice fog which permeates from the coldness of the mountain range is spreading all over the place, the visibility to the surface is nearly quite to zero. Nevertheless the enemies figure and light could still be seen despite the snow cold fog.

Even thought the obscurity prove to be quite  a problem for everyone in the area, everyone was confident that the enemy's forces wouldn't be able to easily attacked them from a surprising angle. After all the stone fortress is situated on the side of the mountain, thus everything that is beyond the wall of the fortress facing west is a cliff and a deadly gorge to the surface which could lead to death when one fall to such height. Behind it is a plain stone path and the back of the mountain.

Only the leaders of the south knows the hidden passage which would safely mobilize their forces from the surface plain to such a dangerous fortress. Since the leaders are quite lo0yal to the south, then betrayal is something far fetched idea for all.

Thus while looking at the thick fog beyond the wall and wondering the movement of the enemy inside her head with eyes seemingly observing every slight movement inside the fog, Another person showed up from the other side of the hallway as it approached her before asking what's was wrong. Apparently the person who approached was someone who was quite close to her father.

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Einar

51 years old

Male

Leader of the 39th tribe, Tetra's father Blood brother, Tetra's Uncle

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"What's wrong? saw something weird?"

Looking over at his direction, Tetra simply nodded her head as she observed the armored person walking beside her so called uncle, a blood brother to her father. A blood brother means a man who has sworn to treat another man as a brother, sometimes with a ceremonial mingling of blood. Thus they weren't related by blood, but instead treated each other as such.

Sensing Tetra's wariness to the people around him, he then simply smiled as he explained the situation. 

"Don't worry! he's my guard"

"... You need a guard uncle?"

"|Well I'm not actually that in my prime any longer, so a little protection is needed for someone of my age... you on the other hand niece doesn't seem to need one"

"I'm not that weak enough to rely on another person's strength"

"I see... your strong just like your father, and a beauty just like your mother"

Taking that compliment in, Tetra then look outside the window once more as she overserved the surroundings. After awhile she then give out a sigh which Einar used it as a chance to strike up another conversation with his niece.

"So anything suspicious in the fog? I heard you have a pretty good eyesight"

"... Having a good eyesight is useless when the nature itself is the one obstructing our view... anyway i couldn't find any suspicious activity on the surface despite the fog"

"You? couldn't find anything? that does sound fishy... maybe there doing something discreetly"

Upon hearing his notion, a grim expression showed on Tetra's face, which was then brushed away by Einar's laugh.

"Ahahahaha! Don't look at me like that, its just a speculation"

"Sometimes a speculation can also be true"

"Alright! whatever goes your way... anyway to change the topic, i heard that you got a request from a foreign force willing to help you deal with the western tribes... so why didn't you accept such gratitude?"

Upon hearing his question, a confused look showcased in Tetra's face as she doesn't know how a person such as his blood uncle could know such information. After all the information regarding the foreign forces was literally restricted only to her people, thus she don't know how can he know at all.

"How did you..."

But before she could fully ask her question, Einar quickly cuts her in and answered.

"Don't be confused on how i know, some of your men are just too loose lipped... a little bit of extra change, they were literally willing to give out such information to us"

The moment she heard that her men were bribe to reveal such confidential information, a headache suddenly rushed at her as she doesn't know what to say or do to her people at all. As a human being, humans are easily swayed by money. Thus with a sigh, she then proceeded to explain.

"... I'll deal with my men later myself... the reason why i didn't accept such a gratified offer is because of what i said a few moments ago"

"Few moments ago?"

"I'm not weak enough to rely on other's strength"

"Ah! I see... but you should know that your also no longer young, you should really find a partner at this moment in time if your not planning to be single forever" said by Einar as he tried to liven up her mood

"There is a time and place for everything uncle! and now is not the time... we are currently at war with the west, north, and east... marriage is out of the option"

"... I see... Kids this days are really different from my heyday"

With that Einar pulled Tetra over to his side as he dragged her along the way while talking joyous stuff with his niece.

While that was happening, a room located far within the fortress on the other hand is currently having its own issue as 6 leaders from 6 different tribes are having a talk regarding the current weird issue regarding the enemy's movement.

After all its been about a week already since the enemy stationed themselves at the foot of the mountain and still no information regarding their movements. Plus the presence of the fog which obscures their vision around the fortress just added to their insecurity, anxiety, and wariness to their surroundings which proved to be suspicious.

Normally a cold fog shouldn't be able to even reach such heights, but the presence of such thick fog in such height just tells something else about it. an event which is full of suspicions about its surroundings. Thus with such issue at hand, a brief talk with all the leaders in the room present was naturally held.

Unknown to everyone including Tetra and her uncle, the western tribal forces had finally started to move in sieging the fortress by taking advantage of the thick fog which obscures their sight. Some started climbing up the wall silently with a hook and rope, some had begun circling the fortress at its flank using a hidden pathway, while some had already infiltrated their ranks and prepared themselves in bringing down the fortress.

Nevertheless with such systematic approach which is quite out of the bow for such a barbaric tribes, it was quite evident that someone or something was leading the war at the palm of its hands.

***ReadatWebnovel***